II Kings 23:14 · Bible study
2 Kings 23:14 Commentary: Defilement and the End of Idolatry
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore why Josiah filled idol sites with human bones. This study examines OT concepts of defilement and the total rejection of idolatry.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Josiah’s irreversible defilement of idolatrous sites using human bones to preclude any future worship there.
- Key words: pillars (matstsevah, standing stones), Asherah poles (asherah, cultic tree/pole), bones (etsem).
- Main debate: None, commentators agree on the action’s purpose: permanent ritual defilement.
- Theological theme: Total rejection of idolatry; covenant fidelity demands full removal and defilement of anything that competes with God.
- Best use: Teaching on repentance, purity, and the radical nature of turning from sin.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He broke in pieces the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with men’s bones.
KJV King James Version 1769
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And he brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And he hath broken in pieces the standing-pillars, and cutteth down the shrines, and filleth their place with bones of men;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And he broke in pieces the columns, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their place with the bones of men.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves: and he filled their places with the bones of dead men.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y quebró las estatuas, y taló los bosques, é hinchió el lugar de ellos de huesos de hombres.
E quebrou as estátuas, e arrancou os bosques, e encheu o lugar deles de ossos de homens.
Il brisa les statues et abattit les idoles, et il remplit d’ ossements d’ hommes la place qu’ elles occupaient.
und zerbrach die Säulen und rottete aus die Ascherabilder und füllte ihre Stätte mit Menschenknochen.
Insgelijks brak hij de opgerichte beelden, en roeide de bossen uit; en hij vervulde hun plaats met mensenbeenderen.
E spezzò le statue, abbatté gl’idoli d’Astarte, e riempì que’ luoghi d’ossa umane.
I pokruszył słupy, a powycinał gaje, i napełnił miejsca ich kościami ludzkiemi.
и изломал статуи, и срубил дубравы, и наполнил место их костями человеческими.
又打碎 柱像，砍下 木偶，將人 的骨頭 充滿了 那地方。
The stone pillars were broken to bits and the wood pillars cut down, and the places where they had been were made full of the bones of the dead.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Kings 23:14
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Josiah’s act of filling the sites with human bones was the ultimate and irreversible defilement. Adam Clarke states that this was “allowed to be the utmost defilement to which any thing could be exposed.” The Cambridge Bible adds that to a Jew trained in the Law, the touch of a dead body made a place permanently unclean (Numbers 19:16). Gill notes that Josiah dug up the bones of idolatrous priests and scattered them on the high places. The shared understanding is that Josiah’s action was not merely destructive but ritualistic, he made these locations spiritually “dead” so they could never again be used for worship, whether true or false. This thoroughness fulfilled God’s command in Deuteronomy 7:5 to destroy altars, break pillars, and cut down Asherah poles. The reform was total and uncompromising.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Josiah’s action was a deliberate, permanent desecration of idolatrous sites using human bones to render them ritually unclean forever.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| What the 'pillars' were | All commentators identify them as standing stones or monuments used in Canaanite worship. | Some English translations render the Hebrew <em>matstsevah</em> as 'images' (KJV) while others use 'pillars' (WEB, ASV). The difference is terminological, not theological. |
| Nature of the Asherah poles | The poles were wooden objects representing the goddess Asherah, often set up beside altars. | Some see them as simply stylized trees; others as carved images. The text does not specify, but the burning at Kidron (v.6) indicates they were combustible. |
| Significance of filling the places with bones | All commentators see this as an act of ultimate defilement, making the sites perpetually unusable for worship. | No substantive debate, the purpose is uniformly understood as permanent desecration. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse is part of King Josiah’s sweeping religious reform, dated to around 622 BC. After the high priest Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law in the temple (2 Kings 22), Josiah initiated a purge of every form of idolatry in Judah and the former northern kingdom. The “pillars” (Hebrew matstsevah) were standing stones or monuments often associated with Canaanite deities, sometimes erected at high places. The “Asherah poles” (Hebrew asherah) were wooden cult objects representing the goddess Asherah, a consort of Baal, frequently set up beside altars on hilltops.
To the Israelite mind, contact with a corpse or even a human bone created ritual uncleanness lasting seven days (Numbers 19:16). By filling these sacred sites with human bones, Josiah rendered them permanently defiled, neither the idolaters nor anyone else could ever re-consecrate them. This was far more than demolition; it was a theological statement that these places were forever unfit for any worship, especially that of Yahweh. The bones likely came from nearby tombs of idolaters, possibly priests (as Wesley suggests), and the act echoes the prophecy spoken against the altar at Bethel a century earlier (1 Kings 13:2). Josiah’s reform extended beyond Judah into Israelite territory (Bethel), showing his vision for a unified, purified land.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Masoretic Text is consistent across major manuscripts, and the Hebrew ketiv and qere readings are undisputed.
Reception History
This verse has been cited throughout church history to illustrate the seriousness of idolatry and the need for complete reformation. Patristic writers such as Jerome read Josiah’s actions as a model for rulers to purge false worship from their realms. During the Reformation, Protestants drew parallels with the cleansing of churches from images and relics that they saw as idolatrous. The verse also appears in discussions of Old Testament ritual impurity, emphasizing that God’s people must go to extraordinary lengths to separate themselves from paganism. In contemporary exegesis, the passage serves as a warning against halfway repentance and a call to make no provision for the flesh.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Total removal is not enough. Josiah did not simply tear down idols; he defiled the very ground they stood on. True repentance means ensuring that old sin patterns cannot easily return.
- Defilement as a weapon against false worship. By using what was unclean, Josiah turned the ritual system on its head. He fought fire with fire, using the law’s own standards to render idolatry forever repulsive.
- God’s passion for exclusive devotion. The drastic action shows how seriously God takes the command to have no other gods before Him. Idolatry is not a minor offense but a betrayal that requires radical surgery.
Five-point outline
- The law as a catalyst for reform (2 Kings 22, 23)
- Identifying the objects of idolatry (pillars, Asherah poles)
- The method of permanent defilement (human bones)
- The scope of the cleansing (Judah and Bethel)
- The heart behind the action (a covenant renewed)
Illustration hooks
- A homeowner who finds black mould behind a wall. Removing the visible patch is not enough, the entire infected area must be cut out and treated or the mould will return.
- A community that reclaims a site used for harm by creating something so radically different that its old purpose is unthinkable.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How far should we go to remove temptation from our lives? Is it enough to say no, or do we need to “fill the places with bones”?
- Can a place or object become so defiled that it is beyond redemption? What does this say about God’s judgment versus His grace?
- Why does God seem so harsh about idolatry when we think of it as ancient history? What are the idols in our own culture?
Leading a Discussion
This passage confronts us with the seriousness of idolatry and the lengths God requires His people to go in order to be wholly devoted to Him. As you work through these questions, keep in mind that the Old Testament laws of uncleanness were designed to teach Israel about holiness and separation from what God calls abominable.
Discussion questions
- What do the pillars and Asherah poles represent in the context of Canaanite religion? Why were they so tempting for Israel?
- Read Numbers 19:16. Why would filling a place with human bones make it “unclean”? What message did Josiah send by this act?
- Josiah’s reform came after he heard the Book of the Law. How does encountering God’s Word lead to a desire for change in our own lives?
- In what ways might we be tempted to “remove idols” from our lives without eliminating their influence? What would a Josiah-like thoroughness look like for you?
- The verse says Josiah filled “their places” with bones. What happens to empty spaces, in our homes, schedules, or hearts, when we remove something? How can we fill them with what honours God?
- Some Christians today struggle with past habits or places associated with sin. What does it mean to “defile” those things so they lose their power?
- How does this story of reform and cleansing point forward to the greater cleansing Christ provides? (Consider passages like 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 23:24 | You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. |
| Numbers 19:16 | “Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. |
| Numbers 19:18 | A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. |
| Numbers 33:52 | then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. |
| Deuteronomy 7:5 | But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire. |
| Deuteronomy 7:25 | You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God. |
| Deuteronomy 7:26 | You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing. |
| II Kings 23:16 | As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to Yahweh’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights that filling a site with human bones was considered the absolute worst defilement possible. No other contamination could compare to this deliberate act of desecration.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator notes that Asherah images were typically made of wood, and that scattering human bones on the site was a deliberate defilement. To a Jew trained by the Law, touching a dead body made a place perpetually unclean, ensuring it could never be reused for any religious purpose.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note stresses that Josiah went beyond merely destroying pagan altars; he deliberately defiled the sites by filling them with human bones, making them permanently unclean and unfit for any future worship. This act of total desecration was meant to ensure these places could never be restored.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights that Josiah deliberately defiled the high places by scattering human bones there, specifically the bones of idolatrous priests. This made the sites ceremonially unclean under the law, ensuring they could never again be used for worship.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that Josiah defiled every idolatrous site in his kingdom by scattering dead men's bones over them. This act made the places ritually unclean for both Jews and pagans, as contact with a corpse caused defilement. The strategy ensured those sites could never be used for worship again.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes Josiah's thoroughness in treating idolatry as utterly contemptible, not merely removing it but grinding it to powder and casting it onto graves. He notes that Josiah defiled the very places and objects of false worship, showing that sin must be detested and erased without a trace.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley emphasizes the deliberate pairing of dead bodies with dead idols to make idolatry disgusting. By placing human bones where images once stood and mingling idol ashes with corpses, Josiah showed that both lifeless gods and idolaters belong together, equally dead and repulsive.